1.0 General
The standard federal records box (or
its equivalent) will be used to ship records to the Federal Records
Center (FRC). It is the responsibility of the contractor to acquire
boxes from outside sources. When records are shipped in boxes that
the FRC cannot accommodate, the records will be returned to the
contractor for repacking at the expense of the contractor. Boxes
that meet standards for shipping records to the FRC are:
Standard-Size
Record Box (NSN 8115-00-117-8249)
(for standard
and legal files)
14-3/4” x 12”
x 9-1/2” (inside dimensions)
15” x 12” x
10” (outside dimensions)
Box must be
rated at 275 pounds per square inch burst strength
Small
Material Box (NSN 8115-00-117-8338)
(for
checks)
14-3/4” x 9-1/2”
x 4-3/4” (outside dimensions)
2.0 Packing And
Labeling Of Records
2.1 When preparing records for transfer
to FRC, records shall be properly packed to minimize the possibility
of damage to records.
2.2 Records shall not be forced into
the boxes. Leave a 1/2 inch space in each box to permit easy withdrawal
of individual records for future reference. If interfiles are expected
in the future, enough space shall be left to accommodate them. Records
shall be packed upright, with letter-size records facing the front
of the box and legal-size records facing the left side of the box
(see
Figure 9.A-1 and
Figure 9.A-2).
Records shall be shipped in manila file folders or expandable folders
separating the various records specified in
Section 2. Under
no circumstances shall records be placed one on top of another in
a box.
2.3 After the records are boxed, the
boxes shall be numbered sequentially (1/10, 2/10, 3/10, etc.) with
permanent black marker in the upper right front corner (see
Figure 9.A-1).
2.4 Detailed
lists of the contents of boxes and indexes to records shall be attached
to the Standard Form 135 (SF-135), Records Transmittal and Receipt,
and retained by the contractor for future reference or provided
upon request by the Defense Health Agency (DHA). Record indexes
shall be organized by a unique identifier that matches the file
label and
identifies the box number.
The contents of each box shall be sorted in ascending order.
3.0 Preparing
Transmittal Document
3.1 When transferring records to the
FRC, the contractor shall prepare and forward one original of the
SF-135 (available on the DHA Records Management (RM) web site under
the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Records
Transmittal and Receipt, SF-135) to the DHA RM Officer. In the “From”
block (Block 5), the contractor shall enter the following: Defense
Health Agency, ATTN: Records Management, 16401 East Centretech Parkway,
Aurora, Colorado 80011-9066. The contractor shall insert its own
address below the DHA address. The contractor shall state in the
Series Description Block the description of the records, the contract
number and region. Instructions for completing the remainder of
the form are printed on the reverse side of the SF-135. A detailed
listing of the contents of each box shall be attached to the SF-135.
3.2 When records
are transferred, they must be scheduled for disposal using the applicable disposition
schedule (see
Section 2, for schedules). When the disposal
authority is not cited, the SF-135 will be returned for completion.
3.3 Upon receipt
of the SF-135, the FRC reviews it for completeness for transfer.
If approved, the FRC assigns a transfer number on the form.
3.4 The original
SF-135 is retained by the FRC; one copy of the annotated SF-135,
showing transfer number(s) will be returned to the contractor, indicating
the FRC’s approval of the shipment.
3.5 After receiving the copy of the
approved SF-135, the contractor shall mark each box in the shipment
with the assigned transfer number. The transfer number shall be
put in the upper left front of the box (see
Figure 9.A-1). The contractor
shall place one copy of the SF-135 with the index in Box 1 of each
transfer and the records will be shipped to the FRC. A copy of the
SF-135 and index shall be retained by the contractor for its use.
3.6 The shipment
of records shall be accomplished as soon as possible after the contractor
receives the annotated copy of the SF-135. If shipment cannot be
made within 90 days of receipt, the contractor must notify the DHA
RM Office and the FRC, or the SF-135 may be cancelled and returned
by the FRC.
3.7 Upon receipt of the records in the
FRC, the SF-135 will be signed and returned to the contractor. The
FRC’s Archives and Records Centers Information System (ARCIS) web
application tracks the location of boxes with bar codes. The bar
codes and location numbers are no longer provided back to DHA.
3.8 Records
boxes will be palletized as shown in
Figure 9.A-2. If transferring
to the Pittsfield FRC, use
Figure 9.A-2. If transferring records to another
FRC, contact the DHA Records RM for guidance.
4.0 Shipping
Records
4.1 The contractor shall refer to NARA’s
FRC Toolkit guidance on “Transferring Records to a Federal Records
Center” for shipping instructions.
4.2 Shipping is the responsibility of the contractor.
Refer to the packaging and marketing instructions in the contract
for further information.
4.3 The FRC has the right to refuse any shipment
of records. The FRC may refuse to accept the delivery of a shipment
if their requirements are not met.
4.4 If the FRC must perform work on the
shipment to make it acceptable (i.e., putting box or transfer numbers
on boxes, repacking damaged boxes (caused by improper packing),
etc.), that cost will be the responsibility of the contractor.
5.0 Retrieving
Records
5.1 The FRC provides reference services,
which include
the loan or return of
records, preparation of authenticated reproductions of documents,
and furnishing of information from records. Requests for the return
of retired records by the contractor shall be approved by the DHA
RM Officer.
5.2 Recall of a record from the FRC
may constitute a reactivation of the case if the record will be retained
on the basis of a current transaction (permanent recall). The record
shall be transferred as part of a new shipment of records to the
FRC after the new retention period has been met. A record is not reactivated
if used only for reference (temporary recall) and may be returned
to the FRC for refile.
5.3 To recall records from the FRC,
the contractor shall complete the Optional Form 11 (OF-11) (see the
National Archives, Forms, OF 11, Reference Request) and contact
the DHA RM Office, who will coordinate the recall. When multiple
OF 11s are transmitted to the FRC, they shall be arranged in transfer
number order, by FRC location and contractor box number. Use one
OF 11 per request. If OF 11s are unavailable, request files on letter-size
paper, providing one copy for each requested document to be used
by the FRC as a charge-out document.
5.4 The following information shall
always be furnished when preparing a reference request:
• Accession number or transfer number.
• FRC location.
• Contractor box
number.
• Description
of records or information requested.
• Name, address,
and telephone number of requester.
5.5 Phone requests shall be limited
to emergency situations. The FRC normally processes requests within
eight hours of receipt. All telephone requests for records (priority
requests) must go through the DHA RM Office at (303) 676-3559. Emergency
phone requests are defined as:
• Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
• Privacy Act
requests.
• Congressional
inquiries.
• Pending court
actions.
• High-level interest
cases.
5.6 All records requested from storage
shall go to the individual (office) requesting them. Records shall
not be sent to outside sources such as the U.S. Department of Justice
(DOJ) or Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS). Records
shall be sent only to the DHA contractors or the DHA RM Officer.
5.7 Requests
for records (OF-11) shall be in FRC location order if 25 or more
requests are sent together. There is no limit on the number of requests
the FRC will process at one time.
Figure 9.A-1 Marking
And Packing Instructions
|
|
Figure 9.A-2 Arrangement
Of Boxes On Pallets
|
|